NGCP: Power outage hits several areas in Visayas

(Updated 8:55 a.m.) Several areas in the Visayas experienced a power outage shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said.

The NGCP, in an initial advisory, said the power loss was experienced at 1:45 a.m. in Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar areas.

It said "gradual restoration process" has begun starting in Cebu, to follow in the Leyte-Samar area and Bohol.

But the NGCP did not immediately cite the reason for the outage.

The NGCP's power outlook for Thursday did not indicate any figures for the Visayas grid.

Its power situation outlook for Thursday showed there was a gross reserve of 317 megawatts for the Visayas grid. 

A post on Biliran's blog site said the outage could have been due to the shutdown of a plant in Leyte that supplies power to the Visayas.

It cited a text message from NGCP spokesperson Betty Martinez that a change of system at the Tongonan Geothermal Power plant in Tongonan triggered an automatic power failure.

The NGCP did not say when electricity in the affected regions would be fully restored.  — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News